Natalia Yakunina

Chairperson

Natalia Yakunina graduated from The Leningrad Institute of Aviation Instrumentation (currently known as The Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation).
After graduating, she worked as an engineer at research and industrial centres until 1986. Between then and 1991, she joined her husband on diplomatic assignments.
From 1991, until 2000, she worked at the International Business Cooperation Center in Saint Petersburg.
Since 2000, Natalia Yakunina has been actively involved in the Foundation of Saint Andrew the First-Called, a Russian NGO.
Since 2006, she has also been in charge of the board of trustees for the ‘Sanctity of Motherhood’, a programme operating throughout Russia. The programme provides social and psychological support for pregnant women and new mothers, and carries out educational activity focused on young people and journalists.
Between 2012 and 2017, she was a member of the coordination council for implementation of the National Action Strategy for the Benefit of Children, enacted under the auspices of Russia’s president.
She is a member of the Coordinating Research Council of the Russian Academy of Education for Family and Childhood.
Natalia Yakunina has received several awards from the Russian Orthodox Church. She is married and has two children.